


There Is No Greater Wonder Than A Dream Fulfilled

by theveryhassledwriter



Series: LGBTQIA+ Fairy Tales [1]
Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Pride Fairy Tales
Genre: Cute, F/F, Fairy tale retelling, Lesbian, Short Story, The little mermaid - Freeform, mermaid, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23400811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theveryhassledwriter/pseuds/theveryhassledwriter
Summary: Just a retelling of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen with a wlw twist. Warning- very cute.
Relationships: Lotte/Greta (original characters)
Series: LGBTQIA+ Fairy Tales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707649
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	There Is No Greater Wonder Than A Dream Fulfilled

There is no greater wonder than a dream fulfilled.  
  
Lotte remembered following ships to and from the many kingdoms, her shimmering silver tail swishing behind her, silky fins waving in the current. She’d watch the men onboard, pretending she was with them. She’d end up daydreaming for days, and her sisters would call her bubble-headed.  
  
All mermaids had one day in their life when they turned fifteen to visit the shore and decide if they wanted to stay in the ocean or live on land. Any other time, they were forbidden- for their own safety.  
  
Years ago, when a human first caught a mermaid while fishing, he kept her, and forced her to become his wife. And a few years later, when he sustained a bad injury from a particularly nasty catch- a shark, to be exact- he discovered that mermaid tears could heal wounds.  
  
Rumors said he beat her every day to collect her tears, and sold them for ridiculous amounts of gold. Since then, no mermaid was safe in the fishermen’s coves. But she still dreamed every night of walking among humans. Sure, they’d done horrible things to her sisters- but surely not all humans were like that?  
  
The day Lotte was finally allowed to go to the shore, the day when she was allowed to walk on land with legs, was the happiest day of her life. Mainly because though she hadn’t told her sisters, she’d been listening to the couples and friends walking along the beach, talking about a ball open to all in the kingdom that very night. And Lotte planned to go, whether her sisters approved or not.  
  
So when it was time to go, she visited her little cove, full of the human treasures she’d collected over her fifteen years of life, and grabbed the small leather pouch full of shimmering gold coins that the humans used as currency. They looked so different from the sand dollars her kingdom used, but she adored them for their smooth texture and color. The second thing she grabbed was what humans called “glasses.” They were meant to go on one’s face, over the eyes, and they made it much easier for her to read human signs. She hid them in the waterproof bag her sisters had given her with a set of human clothes, along with the coins. Thankfully, her sisters didn’t insist on checking her bag, and they smiled and waved as they saw her off towards the shore.  
  
She found a secluded spot and swam all the way into the shore.  
  
As soon as her shining tail hit the dry sand, it started changing. It split in two, and her fins disappeared as her scales melted into soft skin. Lotte stared at her new legs in wonder. So this was what it was like for humans. She wiggled her new toes, giggling.  
  
She dressed, a little confused by the fastenings on the clothes. She figured it out eventually, though, and by the time she was fully dressed in the frilly white frock and leather shoes, as well as the undergarments, her hair was nearly dry. She stared at the tawny strands curiously. She’d only ever seen it with the texture of her fins- silky and flowing in the water. Now, in the warm summer air, it was soft and fluffy, falling about her shoulders.  
  
Lotte strolled along the beach for a little while until she found stone steps leading up to the city. Carefully, she ascended them the way she’d seen the humans climb them, keeping her eyes on her feet to make sure she didn’t fall. The humans around her stared at her with a strange look on their faces. The woman walking near her held something called a par-a-sol, if she remembered correctly. She held it over her shoulder, blocking the sunlight from reaching her fair skin.  
  
Lotte wandered the city until she found what she was looking for- a poster with the details about the ball. On a table underneath it was a stack of papers that had to be invitations. She picked one up, beaming with excitement as she folded it and slipped it into her bag.  
  
“Oh, are you going to the ball?”  
  
She turned to face the voice. A cute girl with cocoa brown hair cut in a shoulder length bob looked at her with a smile. She extended her hand. “I’m Greta. What’s your name?”  
  
“...Lotte,” she said, eyeing Greta’s hand warily. “What a pretty name!” Greta remarked. She noticed where Lotte was looking and laughed. “You put your hand in mine, and shake it.” Cautiously, Lotte took her hand and gingerly shook it.  
  
Greta nodded. “That’s it! I guess handshakes aren’t common where you’re from.” Lotte shook her head.  
  
“Anyways, if you’re going to the ball, you must have a dress, right? What color is yours? Mine is purple.”  
  
Lotte looked down at her dress, holding out the front. “Umm...white. See?”  
  
Greta looked confused. “You’re wearing that? Well, that’s not suitable for a ball at all! And the ball starts in just a few hours! Here, come with me. We’ll find you a dress!” She grabbed Lotte’s hand before Lotte could say a word.  
  
That was another thing Lotte wasn’t used to- speaking. Underwater, speaking was unnecessary. But here, she could speak human words that felt strange in her mouth. She rather liked her voice on land- it was soft and girlish, and similar to the ones she’d heard from ladies walking along the beach.  
  
Greta led her down streets until they reached a building, painted with pink and white stripes. The blue awning over the door read “Mme. Laurent, Dressmakers.”  
  
Greta pulled her into the building. Lotte looked around at her surroundings. On shelves against the brick walls were bolts of colorful fabrics. A woman sat at a desk in the back, seated before a strange machine. Under the table, her foot pressed a pedal, and a wheel on the side turned. She was feeding a beautiful blue fabric into the machine.  
  
In the middle of the shop, a portly woman was wrapping a numbered ribbon around a woman’s waist while the woman stood on a raised round platform. When the door opened, a little bell dinged, grabbing her attention. She turned, and her eyes lit up. “Greta, dear! So lovely to see you. Something wrong with your dress?”  
  
Greta shook her head and gestured Lotte forward. “Not at all, Madame Laurent! It’s just that Lotte here doesn’t have a dress for the ball. I was wondering if you had any ready that we could alter for her?”  
  
Madame Laurent shooed the other woman off of the platform, helping Lotte up. She wrapped the ribbon around a couple places on Lotte’s body, then leaned in close, examining her eyes and picking up a strand of her hair to look at it closer. She eyed the owlish frames around Lotte’s eyes, and messed with her hair for a moment, pulling it back into a bun, and then approximations of several other styles while Greta nodded or shook her head.  
  
She stepped back. “Yes...I think I have the perfect dress.”  
  
As she shuffled around in a back room, she spoke to Greta. “You see, it was for this girl. It’s so strange, I made it...two years ago? She came in and asked for a dress to be picked up the next day, and...she never came to get it. She was a pretty girl, but flat as a pancake. Looked much like Lotte there.”  
  
Lotte knew at once which of her sisters it had been. Most of them were well developed- but Lotte’s oldest sister, Erica, was flat-chested like Lotte. Erica had been the one to sit with Lotte when she rambled on about what she’d seen on the ships or the beach, always asking for details about the dresses the women wore. She’d come back from her day on land sad, saying she’d made the wrong choice by coming back.  
  
Madame Laurent re-emerged, telling Lotte to close her eyes. Lotte did so, removing her glasses as the woman instructed and handing them to Greta. Madame Laurent helped her out of her white day dress, leaving her in her chemise and bloomers, and slipped the dress over her head. “Oh! A perfect fit!” she remarked. The fabric of the dress was cool and smooth on Lotte’s fair skin, and she heard Greta’s hums of approval as Madame Laurent fastened the back of the dress.  
  
“Open your eyes, child,” Madame Laurent said as she turned Lotte towards the mirror.  
  
Lotte was at a loss for words.  
  
The dress was made from silk in the same corn-flower blue as Lotte’s eyes. It fit her perfectly, the bodice hugging her tightly, and the sleeves, puffy and short, fell just off of her shoulders. The skirt draped over its petticoats and the crinoline that Greta had helped her into, a perfect bell shape. The fabric was smooth and thin as a wisp of wind, layered countless times to make the dress opaque rather than sheer like the fabric. Swirls of silver like vines lined the hem of the skirt and edged the sleeves and bodice.  
  
Lotte almost started to cry. Greta nodded and beamed in approval, remarking that it looked perfect on her. “I’ll take it,” Lotte whispered in quiet awe, digging blindly in her bag for her pouch of coins. Madame Laurent shoved her hand away gently. “Oh, no, dear. Free of charge. After all, that other woman already paid me for it, and it looks so nice on you.”  
  
While Madame Laurent carefully folded the dress, slipping it into a great big satin bag, along with folded petticoats, Greta helped her pick out a pair of silver slippers. “Here, come with me. We’ll style your hair and get you ready!”  
  
Greta took her to a sprawling estate that she called her home. A maid greeted her at the door, but Greta was too distracted talking to Lotte about her plans for the ball to return the greeting. She led Lotte up the stairs to what must have been her room, opening the satin bag that held her dress. She helped Lotte into her crinoline and petticoats, and then she pulled the dress over Lotte’s head, lacing it up. But before she could sit Lotte down in front of a mirror and get started on her hair, Lotte stopped her.  
  
“Why...why are you being so kind to me?”  
  
Greta smiled sadly and sat on the bed.  
  
Well...I remember my first ball, a few years ago. It was...a year after my mother died. I had no one to help me get ready, or pick a dress, and when I got to the ball, I felt ridiculous. All the girls there laughed at me, and none of the boys besides my cousin and my best friend asked me to dance. And I saw you, and you reminded me of...well, me. And I didn’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone ever again.”  
  
Lotte was once again at a loss for words, this time at how kind Greta was. She leaned over silently and hugged Greta.  
  
“Do..do you think I could be your friend?” she asked quietly.  
  
Greta sniffled and smiled. “Oh, Lotte...of course!”  
  
As Greta brushed Lotte’s hair, they chatted more about Greta’s family. Lotte told her all about hers- though she managed never to mention that her family lived underwater, or sported tails- Greta seemed satisfied with the explanation that they lived in a faraway place.  
  
Greta pinned and braided and twisted her hair, the whole time talking about the people who would be there. The prince she mentioned in passing, but she didn’t ramble about him the way Lotte had heard other girls do.  
  
When she was finished, and Lotte’s hair was styled in an elegant chignon, she turned her attention to Lotte’s face, removing her glasses and brushing pink powder on her cheeks with a rabbit fur brush. She painted Lotte’s lips apple-blossom pink and beamed with approval as she dusted blue powder over her eyelids.  
  
Lotte admired Greta’s work in the mirror, and then helped Greta into her dress. Greta’s dress was a deep aubergine shade that complemented her complexion wonderfully. Greta braided her hair and pinned it in a halo round the crown of her head, and Lotte followed her instructions carefully to do Greta’s makeup for her. It turned out very well for Lotte’s first time.  
  
When Lotte was finished, she stood back to admire Greta, and noticed for the first time how truly beautiful she was. Her hair was soft in color and texture, and the loose strands framed her heart-shaped face perfectly. Her eyes were a striking hazel, and filled with sparkle, and her lips were soft and had a perfect cupid’s bow.  
  
Her hair was a little messy, yes- the pins couldn’t hold everything. She had a rather dark spattering of freckles across her nose, and her nose was a little crooked, as if it had been broken. And she was tall- taller than most boys Lotte had seen. Her hands were small, but she had unusually long fingers. Her skin was darker than the fair ladies.  
  
Strangely, these imperfections- not the beautiful things about her- were what made her so attractive to Lotte.  
  
What Lotte didn’t notice was Greta, staring at her as well. Gazing at her soft, tawny blonde hair, her fair skin, her big blue eyes. Her small frame, her tiny, pert nose, her diminutive hands. She didn’t notice the understanding in Greta’s eyes as she began to understand why Lotte had caught her eye in the first place, standing in the sunlight in a frilly white frock years out of fashion, her hair loose and unbound, and no parasol or hat in sight.  
  
As she began to understand why she was more concerned about the princess’s presence at the ball than the prince’s. Began to understand why it had hurt much more when the girls shunned her than when the boys wouldn’t dance with her.  
  
She kept silent on that matter, though, choosing instead to compliment Lotte.  
  
“You look really pretty,” she said, leaving off the words that would make Lotte understand that Greta wanted her for herself.  
  
Lotte blushed and thanked her quietly. “You...look really beautiful too.  
  
Without further words, they left the house, walking to the palace. It wasn’t far from Greta’s home, really- and the cool night air felt nice on Lotte’s flushed, heated cheeks.  
  
When they reached the palace, a sprawling stone structure Lotte had marveled at since childhood, Greta handed the guard their invitations. The guard let them through, and Lotte couldn’t turn her head fast enough to catch all of the sights around her. Greta giggled. “Stop! Your hair will come undone!” Lotte stopped, admiring the castle gates in the lantern light. “Oh, alright.”  
  
As they entered the castle, Lotte almost resumed her side-to-side movements, trying to catch all the details of the dresses. Greta laughed again. “Oh, goodness, Lotte,” she said, shaking her head with a smile.  
  
Greta got a rush of courage looking out at all the people and knowing none of them could outshine Lotte, and she did something bold as a quick and lively tune began to play.  
  
She grabbed Lotte’s hand and pulled her out onto the dance floor, placing her hands at Lotte’s waist and spinning her. Lotte blushed furiously at first, but soon got into the swing of it, whirling happily with Greta. She’d never danced before, and wasn’t quite sure what to do or how to move, but it felt a lot like when she was little and swam into sardine swarms and let them swirl her around in a current of silver.  
  
It felt happy, and warm, and safe.  
  
Everyone was staring at them, but she didn’t care. She was living her dream, dancing at a ball, in a beautiful dress, with a beautiful person.  
  
The ball was over too quick. She and Greta spent the whole time either dancing or chatting, making up silly names for the people that passed by. At one point, Greta did a wonderful imitation of the prince that sent Lotte into a fit of giggles. And though every time they danced together, people looked at them and whispered, scandalized, they couldn’t have cared less.  
  
As the ball wound to a close, Lotte felt scales start to prickle along her legs and suggested they walk along the beach, knowing that sadly, her time had come. She wanted to stay with Greta, but Greta...had done enough for her. She didn’t want to burden her.  
  
As they walked on the soft sand, slippers in hand, Lotte took a deep breath. “Greta, I need to tell you something.”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
Lotte gazed wistfully at her, then at the ocean, sparkling in the moonlight. “I...I’m not human. I belong-” she pointed to the ocean- “-out there. Do you...do you understand?”  
  
Greta’s eyes widened. “Oh goodness...you’re...a mermaid? Really?”  
  
Lotte nodded. “Yes. And the time has come for me to return to my home. So I wanted to thank you, for your kindness, and your company. And I’d like you to keep the dress. To remember me by.”  
  
Greta was stunned. She’d just made a friend- who was a mermaid, no less- and now she was going to lose her? Going to lose the girl that, over the course of the day, she’d started to fall in love with?  
  
Tears welled in her eyes and she nodded shakily. “Al...Alright.”  
  
Lotte smiled sadly at her as she undid the lacings on the dress, pulling it over her head. Her petticoats were discarded as she handed the dress to Greta, who draped it over a stone wall. One last smile at Greta and she started to walk towards the ocean.”I’ll...never forget you, Greta.”  
  
Greta wanted to cry, watching Lotte walk away towards the waves.  
  
“Wait! Lotte!”  
  
Lotte turned to see Greta running for her, skirts hitched up in one hand. In a moment, Greta made it to her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and kissed her.  
  
It was a sad, desperate kiss, as if Lotte were going off to her death. Her lips were salty with tears, and soft against Lotte’s own. Greta’s arms snaked around her waist to pull her even closer.  
  
The voice of one of Lotte’s sisters came from behind them. “Lotte...it’s time to make your choice.”  
  
Greta wanted to scream stay stay stay, but managed to say it just once, quietly.  
  
“Stay. Stay with me, Lotte. I’ll never make you stay on land, you can visit them anytime you want...and you can live in the house with me, and we’ll be together-” her voice broke towards the end, and Lotte placed her hands on Greta’s damp cheeks, trying to calm her down.  
  
“We can come to the beach every day, if you want, and-”  
  
“Greta.”  
  
“And you can wear all the pretty dresses you want, and we can have a garden-”  
  
“Greta.”  
  
“We can go to balls, and dances, and have parties-”  
  
“Greta!”  
  
Greta stopped talking, looking at Lotte like she was begging. But she didn’t need to beg.  
  
“I’ll stay.”  
  
Greta sobbed happily and kissed Lotte again, with passion and love and joy all at once. Lotte’s sisters cheered, and one, who looked just like Lotte, came forward, resting her elbows in the sand and laying in the shallow water. “You’ll have to visit, and tell me about all the dresses. Promise me?”  
  
Lotte broke the kiss to kneel in the surf. “I promise, Erica. I promise.”  
  
In turn she hugged each of her sisters, and Greta stared at their shimmering tails, which were all colors of the rainbow. She made a mental note to ask Lotte about her tail.  
  
Lotte backed away and grabbed Greta’s hand, looking at her joyfully. “Shall we, my lady?” she said, attempting Greta’s imitation of the prince. Greta laughed. Though Lotte wore only a chemise and bloomers, the knees of which were wet with seawater, they started the walk back to Greta’s house, hands entwined all the way.


End file.
